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Syria airstrikes by U.S. grossly breach UN Charter: Putin

Posted on Monday, April 16, 2018 by Kristina Tyler

Syria airstrikes by U.S. grossly breach UN Charter: Putin

"We call on the parties concerned to remain calm, exercise restraint, refrain from any move that may lead to further escalation of the situation, solve the issue peacefully through consultation and dialogue", Permanent Representative to the United NationsMa Zhaoxu said Friday.

"I urge the Security Council to assume its responsibilities and fill this gap".

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said no decision had been taken to launch strikes and stressed Washington was taking time to assess the implications of possible military action after Russia warned it could lead to a unsafe US-Russian war.

"It seems that with the latest developments, the atmosphere has eased somewhat", Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul.

Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog said he hopes the council can take action on his proposal "as quickly as possible" saying "the clock is ticking" - an apparent reference to imminent strikes on Syria.

Erdogan says: "What we insisted on tenaciously was the fact that is not right for tensions to heat up; we made requests concerning the restitution of peace and the end of the tragedy that is going on".

Slovenia's Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said in a statement to the official STA news agency that "due to the Syria crisis", French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian cancelled his planned visit to Slovenia on Friday and Saturday.

Russian Federation this week vetoed a U.S. proposal to set up such a panel following an alleged chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Douma that killed more than 40 people, according to medics and rescuers.

The Government, however, said evacuations from Douma were ongoing and no Syrian Government forces had entered the town.

"God forbid anything adventurous will be done in Syria following the Libyan and Iraqi experience", Mr Lavrov told a news conference on Friday.

Moscow's efforts to win Security Council condemnation of the strikes in a resolution overwhelmingly failed.